Honour Among Thieves
by ArchlordV
Summary: There are times when the best can meet their match in the most unlikely of all opponents. A pink haired pixie crosses the path of a skull faced stranger, and Raven is stalked by a presence, maybe darker than her father... Pairings: RedXJinx RavenOC
1. Chapter I: Thief's Honour

Darklord X:

Okay…this is my first fanfic, so don't go biting my head off if I don't exactly portray the characters the way they act in the show. I'm only human (or am I?). Anyway, I really hope people enjoy this story, mainly the fans of Red X and Jinx. Couple of O.C.'s (original characters for you new to FF Net, too) showing up in later chapters. Until next time…X may mark the spot, but only the Darklord knows the way…

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.

**Honour Among Thieves:**

**Prologue**

_There are many stories in the concrete world known as Jump City._

_This is just one of them._

_There are many things one can never be sure of, but the morals and actions of the mysterious vigilante known as Red X are near the top of the list. His objectives always shrouded in mystery; he stalks Jump City nightly for some unknown purpose or another._

_However, there are times when even the best can meet their match in the least likely of all opponents. In these times, there may be a drastic change which some call "honour among thieves". This time brings out the worst in some people…then again it can often bring out the best in others._

_To each their own, I suppose…_

**Chapter I: Thief's Honour**

"This is too easy"

Jinx slipped into the factory, taking great care not to let the security cameras spot her. Her two partners, Gizmo and Mammoth, followed. Gizmo's fingers danced across his techpad and the cameras shorted out, their circuitry disrupted by a small electro magnetic pulse. Unhindered, they walked deeper through the stronghold, discussing their plans.

"Mammoth and I will hold off the guards," explained Jinx to Gizmo, "while you break into the safe and get the item. In, out…they won't know what hit them." Gizmo and Mammoth chuckled evilly.

They kept walking until they reached a door with the words DANGER! DO NOT ENTER written upon it.

So, naturally, they were going to go in. They knew what was behind that door.

Jinx signalled to Mammoth, who nodded. Gizmo tapped a few buttons on his techpad and four spidery appendages emerged from his backpack, lifting him off the ground. He gave the thumbs-up.

Mammoth charged at the door, knocking it off its hinges. Jinx followed close behind him, ready to fight. Gizmo waited for the shouts of surprise from the guards and the sound of battle as his friends dispatched them.

Silence.

Gizmo waited a few seconds more until he heard Mammoth's stupefied voice.

"Well…uh…the good news is we don't have to worry about the guards…"

"What!" Gizmo scurried into the room. He gaped when he saw the strange scene. Jinx and Mammoth stood in the centre of the room, unconscious guards strewn about them. Each guard had two slashes burned into their chest armour with impressive accuracy.

_And speed,_ Jinx noted before the other two. None of the guards had even managed to unholster their own weapon. Whoever had taken them out had done so within a matter of seconds.

In the far wall opposite, the vault door had been blown clear off its hinges, the bulletproof glass on the outside lay on the ground in shards. The three rushed over to it, where Gizmo made a startling revelation.

"I'm getting a thermal reading here!" he said. "The metal hasn't cooled yet! It was blasted open just as we entered the facility!"

Jinx shook her head in annoyance. "Don't be an idiot!" she snapped. "That is if you're not one already. We would have heard a blast powerful enough to rip through the vault. Unless…"

A sudden suspicion seized Jinx. She walked around the hole, carefully examining it until she found what she was looking for. A sonic dissipator hung, drilled into the metal, just below where the vault door had been breached. The small machine had soaked up all the sound from the explosion and converted it to a sibilant whisper.

_But…that's impossible! _Jinx thought angrily. There was no kind of thief that used such sophisticated equipment.

_Then again, _thought Jinx in unease, _if such an advanced thief did exist and was at large in Jump City, how come they had never heard of him before?_

"Hey, guys!"

Gizmo's voice cut through Jinx's thoughts. "I've found traces of xenothium, leading out of the door in the direction of the stairs that ascend to the roof. If we hurry we might still be able to catch that loser!" Both Mammoth and Jinx nodded in agreement and ran toward the stairs, Gizmo close behind.

Sprinting up flight after flight, they reached the roof. After having opened the door, courtesy of Mammoth, they stopped on the centre of the compound's roof. They looked around wildly, hoping to spot the one who had beat them to the prize.

"I don't get it!" yelled Gizmo in frustration. "How could he get away! He didn't have enough time to get away!"

Jinx, however, wasn't listening. She felt a weird sensation, like a sliver of ice slipping down into her heart.

"I have a bad feeling," she said to them. "It feels as though he were just here."

"Wrong," rasped a voice from the shadows. "I still _am_ here!"

There, emerging from the darkness of the doorway through which they had just came, was a black apparition, tall and forbidding, its face a white skull with bloody slashes across the forehead. One hand emerged from the blackness of his attire holding a single unit of raw xenothium ore, glowing scarlet with the strange power locked within its core, casting a sanguine glow over the thief's masked face.

"Looking for this?" his cold, uninflected voice mocked them. "Because I'm afraid I'll be keeping it. After all," he said, pocketing the canister, "I was the one who got here first."

Gizmo, Mammoth and Jinx stood rooted to the spot with anger. Not only had this guy beaten them to the xenothium, but he actually had the audacity to taunt them about it. Gizmo reared up on his spider legs – he hadn't deactivated his backpack – and the blasters whipped around from behind him.

"How about we make a deal, Snot Skull? You give us the xenothium, and we don't flash-fry you!"

"Yeah," grunted Mammoth, cracking his knuckles together. "What you've got belongs to us!"

"Really," said the masked stranger. "By what right?" Jinx felt that she had been quiet for too long. "By the authority of the H.I.V.E. Academy," she said in a threatening voice. "That's what makes it ours."

The stranger began to laugh softly, a truly menacing sound. "Unfortunately," he said, when he'd stopped laughing, "you are making a serious mistake. I do not bow to the authority of the H.I.V.E.. I answer to a higher law."

"Yeah?" hissed Jinx. "What is it?"

"Mine." The chill night wind whipped around him, making his tattered cape billow out like the wings of a monstrous bat. "Specifically what's mine I keep. Unless I get paid for it…"

Mammoth and Gizmo laughed contemptuously; this guy obviously didn't know who he was messing with. Jinx, however, didn't join in.

"So," sneered Mammoth, "you think you can beat us, do you? Once I've finished with you, you'll wish you'd never crossed us!" The stranger just stood there, totally unimpressed. Infuriated, Mammoth charged like an insane bull. The other didn't even move to defend himself.

_He's paralysed with fear,_ thought Mammoth. His guess proved correct; he was within striking distance and the stranger still hadn't moved to a defensive position.

Mammoth pulled back with his huge right fist, ready to deliver a blow of near-decapitory force. He threw his hand forward and his fist connected with…empty air.

The mysterious thief had sidestepped at the last second, letting Mammoth's own momentum throw him off balance. Mammoth spun around quickly.

WHAP.

But not quick enough. The stranger's fist struck Mammoth squarely between the eyes, hard enough to inspire concussion. As Mammoth staggered off balance, the other drove his knee deep into Mammoth's gut. Winded and holding his stomach, Mammoth looked up just in time to see the stranger drive his elbow into the small his back.

Stepping away from the unconscious form of Mammoth, the stranger cracked his knuckles and his neck.

"That was pathetic!" said the dark stranger in disgust. "I don't have time to waste with the likes of you!" He turned to walk away, but found his path blocked by Jinx.

"If you want to escape," she said, "you'll have to get through me!"

The stranger smirked. She whirled around, firing several Hex Blade spells at him. Just before they made contact, however, he disappeared.

"What?" said Jinx. "Where did-"

"Look out!" yelled Gizmo, but his warning came a fraction of a second too late. It was as if everything was moving in slow motion. Jinx's eyes flicked to her right side and saw the fearsome skull mask, its owner's unseen eyes focused on her own, and tension filling her soul as she waited for the first blow.

It never came.

Time returned. He roared past Jinx like a midnight blast, stopping at the roof's edge. He turned back to them, pulling out the ore cylinder once again, spinning it and pocketing it.

"Catch you later!" he laughed.

"Not so fast, wannabe!" Gizmo cried. He pressed a button on his techpad. The two blasters came to life, spitting several shafts of energy at the skull-faced stranger, who reacted with unnerving speed. From within some secret place in his cape, he withdrew a crimson object and flung it at the beams.

Both projectiles collided and detonated with a deafening roar, knocking Jinx and Gizmo off-balance. The dark stranger turned skyward once more.

"Sorry," he sneered. "Gotta fly!"

She didn't know what caused her to do it; Jinx leapt to her feet and sprung at the thief, clutching his arm just as he took to the air. Her unexpected assault must have surprised him, for his eyes widened in shock.

But just for a moment. The next second, they were engulfed by complete darkness as the wind roared around them.

**X**

Reality was brought back by a hard bump.

Jinx got unsteadily to her feet and looked around. She seemed to be in the middle of a deserted, crumbling building. She could also see that she was not alone…

The thief in black was also standing, looking around as though this wasn't the place he'd meant to be in at all. After a moment, he regarded the girl standing a few feet away from him.

"Thanks a lot, Pigtails," he snarled. "I _really _wanted to end up _here!_" He brushed himself off; reaching within the folds of his cape he withdrew the ore again. He looked from it to Jinx. "You still want this?" he asked, whipping it back into his cape with one swift, fluid movement.

"You bet," she said, her eyes glowing pink. He smirked.

"Well, then," he jeered. "Come and get it!"

She launched a spinning hex curse at him, but he was gone with one whirl of his cape. She ducked as he materialised in front of her, dodging the kick he had aimed at her head. She fired off a crouching roundhouse of her own, but the other merely backflipped it with as much grace as Jinx herself. She hurled several more curses at him, but missed, instead bringing parts of the roof down in a cloud of cement and dust. Landing out of his flip, he crossed his arms, and twin X blades sprung from the backs of his hands, glinting malevolently in the moonlight. He lunged at her again, slashing wildly. Jinx dodged the vicious spikes, and closed for a stomach kick. He blocked her foot with the back of one blade and slashed at her face with the other. She dodged again, but this time one of the wicked edges grazed her cheek, leaving a stinging cut. Acting on instinct, she ducked, narrowly missed by the other edged blade, used her other leg to trap her opponent's and used a low lockstep kick. He staggered back, off-balance. Jinx tried to close with him, but he recovered too quickly. Regaining his composure, he dealt a light backhand blow to her stomach, winding her. Clutching her stomach, she dodged one of the blades too late, this one running a long, deep gash down her left arm. As she let out a cry of pain and surprise, the thief backed off, retracting the blades with a flick of his wrist. Another flick and a crimson shuriken-like star appeared in his hand.

"Who are you?" gasped Jinx.

"The last thing you'll ever see," he said, but Jinx made one last effort. Summoning her remaining strength, she concentrated her power into a single Hex Blast, and launched it at the masked thief, hitting him squarely in the belt.

There was a crackling explosion of crimson energy and they were both thrown back with tremendous force. Jinx felt something hit the back of her head hard and felt herself slipping into unconsciousness…

"Oh…dammnit…what the _Hell_ was _that_…?"

With a groan, Red X picked himself up from the ground for the second time in one night. Glancing at his belt, he saw that one of his cartridges had been destroyed, but otherwise it would still function.

_That'll take some fixing,_ he thought to himself. He looked around until he saw where his adversary was.

The explosion had thrown her into one of the crumbling walls, knocking her unconscious. Her clothes had been singed from the explosion, and cuts that X recognised as his own handiwork ran down her cheek and left arm. Looking down at her, X shook his head.

"Tough luck, Pigtails," he said. He knelt down beside her, tore a strip off his already ragged cape and bound it about her arm like a makeshift bandage. It was only then he realized how hard she had hit the wall, and the angle of her arm…

Standing up, X turned away. He had to get out of here. With any luck, some people might have heard the commotion and already have called Jump City P.D.. They would arrive shortly and sort out the girl…

_Get real_, his inner voice mocked him. _You're the only one who knows she's here. Hell, even **you** didn't know you'd end up here…_

_I can't take her with me, _his rational side explained. _My suit isn't built for transporting more than one person at a time. At any rate… _he glanced down at his damaged belt, where the power core had started flashing. _…I've only got enough xenothium to get myself away from this place…_

_So, you're just gonna leave her here to die?_ his inner voice asked coldly. _Oh, bravo, X…you're a real bastard…_

There was a pause.

…_Think about it…you'll make the right decision…_

Red X stood, straight and tall, a figure of darkness, silhouetted by his two innermost wills. Finally, he pulled out the xenothium canister. Gazing into its glowing core, he finally made his decision…

"Son of a bitch…" he said.

**X**

Jinx slowly opened her eyes.

She appeared to be in a dark bedroom, lit only by a dim bulb swinging from the ceiling. She also became aware of the fact that she was lying on a thin-matressed bed, with a strange, tattered black and grey sheet over her.

She sat up, shrugging the sheet off her shoulders which fell to the floor, and tried to push herself off the bed. She was rewarded with a bright flare of pain in her left arm. Looking down, she saw that it had been bound with a long white bandage and strapped tightly between two splints. On impulse, she reached up and touched her cheek. Another small bandage.

The door opened.

The familiar skull-faced stranger stood framed in the doorway, holding a tray in his gloved hands on which rested a steaming bowl and a glass of water. Obviously, he had not been expecting to see her awake, for he stilled upon catching sight of her, but he soon recovered. Stepping into the room he placed the tray upon a small table beside the bed, looked into her eyes for a half-second, and turned to leave without saying a word. She couldn't raise her voice any higher than a whisper, but he heard her speak just as his hand grasped the door's handle.

"You could have killed me…"

He took his hand off the handle and turned to address her. "I've never killed anyone," he said through the mask's filter, "but if I ever have to, I hope it won't start with unconscious girls."

The usual Jinx asserted herself. "So what? Do you honestly think you can keep me here? I doubt it…"

"I don't," he said, a slight sneer in his voice. "You're not going anywhere with that arm." Jinx smirked and gestured to the bowl on the tray. "What's this?" she said.

"What does it look like?" he replied. "It's a bowl of soup. Thought you might be hungry…" Catching the sceptical look on her face, he added "Don't worry; I'm not in the habit of poisoning people. If I wanted to kill you" – he pulled out one of his red stars – "I could do it much easier with this…"

"I think you would find both difficult," she said coldly as he flicked the weapon away, but regardless, whatever he had prepared for her smelled delicious. He stood up again, picking up the sheet that Jinx recognised as his own cape. Placing this back on the bed, he said "You should eat, rest, regain your strength. You could be here for awhile. Try to escape and I'll make you wish you'd never been born. I've got a mean streak in me, Pigtails." He turned to leave.

"My name is Jinx," she said, annoyed. "And it might help if I at least knew your name." He turned around again, his back to the open door. "Sorry," he replied, "but I can't go around telling every cute girl I meet that."

"Well," she said, smiling a little, "how about just me?"

There was a pause.

"Aw, c'mon," she said, clearing relishing the effect. "Pretty please?"

There was another pause, much longer than the first.

"It's X," he said, finally. "The name's Red X." He turned around for the last time, opened the door and left the room.

"What guarantee do I have that you won't kill me in my sleep?" she called after him.

"I promise I won't kill you," his voice floated back. "Thief's honour…"

The door closed, the lock clicking.

**X**

_So…that's Red X…_

Jinx had heard whispers of him, but had dismissed them all as over-exaggeration and urban myths. Now, however, she saw things differently. The guy was good, choosing to use a lethal combination of finesse and blatant destruction, rather than just the latter. It was a long time since Jinx had won second prize.

_Then again, _her inner voice mused, _maybe he just sees you as a rival rather than an enemy._

_I doubt that, _she thought to herself. _He nearly killed me back there, and I think he would have. Maybe he felt guilty about it and helped me out, so that, when I'm back on my feet, he can finish the job…_

_Or maybe, _her inner voice countered, _he's attracted to you. He did call you cute..._

Jinx suddenly realised how hungry she was. She glanced over at the bowl of soup, still steaming, on the bedside table. No doubt it would be foolish to eat it.

_Then again, _her compulsive side insisted, _I doubt he would have saved your life just to immediately poison you._ She sat up cross-legged on the bed, wincing slightly as she shifted her left arm, took the tray off the table, dipped the spoon in the soup, and began to eat.

Thief and whatever else he was, X must have been a fair cook. In a few minutes, the bowl was back on the table, empty, and Jinx had lain back onto the pillow, sighing with pleasure, just now noticing, as suddenly as she had before, how tired she was. She took the cape from the bottom of the bed and draped it around herself. Despite its tattered appearance, the cape was long, soft and warm.

_Maybe, _she thought, _just **maybe**…X isn't such a bad guy after all…_

This thought remained in her head even as she drifted off to sleep.

**X**

_Fzzt._

"Damn!"

The sparks spit at Red X's hand as he gingerly turned the miniscule tool, trying to reinforce the microcircuitry of the belt's complex system. Although the explosion had damaged the belt, it still functioned and wasn't anywhere near as damaged as it could have been. X moved like a surgeon, carefully weaving his instrument through the forest of already repaired wires. Slowly, the minute tip of the tool touched the two edges of torn circuit together. A spark, a small _hiss_, and his work was done.

X leant back on his wood-backed work chair and sighed with relief, the small spot-welding tool rolling from his grasp. It had taken him little over two whole hours, but he had finally repaired the belt. All that was needed now was to cover up the exposed circuitry with the grey steel of the belt's outer layer.

X glanced out the small, dirty window into the darkness of the night sky, where the stars shimmered brightly and a new full moon glowed. Now that he had repaired the belt, he was free to lose himself in his own thoughts. One, in particular, kept cutting to the fore of the others:

_Why? Why did I do it? Why did I take her with me?_

_Well, _his rational side replied, _is **was **kind of your fault that she got that badly hurt. Whatever else you may be, you're not a killer..._

_I wasn't going to kill her, _his inner voice evaded; _I just had to get out of there as quick as possible._

_And leave her to her fate? _his other side quipped. _What else do you call murder?_

_**I don't know!** _his inner voice roared. _I just…don't know…_

His first impulse _had _been to flee, to escape and not look back. It was his natural impulse. But she had been severely injured and probably would have died if he hadn't reached closure quickly.

He _could _have. Oh, he _could _have. He held her death in his own two hands and could have ended her misery at any time he chose. But something made him stay his hand, something made him sweep her up in his arms and bore her away into the dark night…something…

That same something had come to him even as he had laid her on his own bed. It struck him as just an impulse, but for a second there – just a second – he had wanted to stroke her pink hair, to see if it was as soft as it looked. X massaged his eyes with his gloved fingers.

_Being stupid, _he thought. _Just being stupid… _He hoped.

Before tonight he had never so much as held someone in his arms, Red X, but in his mind his chastity made him no less a man. And she _was_ very pretty… He wanted to dwell more on that.

But, judging by the moon at its peak in the sky, it was nearly midnight and his body was telling him it was past his bedtime. Resisting the urge to fall asleep where he was sitting, he instead rose to his feet and took the belt in both his hands and strapped it around his waist. He had used some of the xenothium he had stolen earlier tonight to transport Jinx and himself here and the belt was nearly fully charged. But xenothium was precious, and it was easy to overtax the suit's system in the heat of battle. The canister he had gone to all that trouble for only contained two-thirds of the energy it had previously.

_I guess, _he mused, _I'll have to go back…to call in an old favour…_

He sat back down in his hard work chair but, for all he cared, could have been a soft bed with downy pillows. He tried to listen to what his inner sense was telling him.

It was telling him, _Stop thinking so much and pay more attention to the girl. _X smiled. Yes, she probably was going to be trouble. But he wouldn't expect anything less from a girl named Jinx… His head slowly curved down onto his chest and he surrendered to darkness.

The skull mask that hid his face, however, kept its eyes open.

Darklord X:

And that's the end of that chapter! I hope that was enough excitement for the first instalment of "Honour Among Thieves"! In the next chapter, X must call in an old favour from his former brother-in-arms. But who is this mysterious character, and what does he have to do with X's _and _Raven's pasts? Find out in "Chapter II: Dario Darque"!


	2. Chapter II: Dario Darque

Darklord X:

Hello, childrens, Darklord X here! Thank you very much for the comments! You're too kind! I'm very sorry that I wasn't able to post for so long, but I had some…really…bad…(shit, hardrive crash! Reboot! Reboot!) Really… bad…computer…problems (phew, done!). That…and the simple fact that my connection is downed at home, so I couldn't post! Anyways, here's the second chapter for all you die-hard lovers of X and Jinx. Bit shorter than the first, though, I'm sorry! This is Darklord X signing off for now.

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter takes place during and after the fight scene between X/Jinx in Chapter 1.

**Chapter II: Dario Darque**

Even as X had engaged Jinx in battle, the darkness cast itself over Jump City.

He took to the sky hard and fast. His cloak whipped around his body, as though it were itself alive. He felt the rush of adrenaline as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop with the deft agility of a wolf. In the criminal underworld, those who dared to speak his name at all called him the Shadow Phantom.

Underneath the façade, however, no one knew who he truly was.

He glided through the air with effortless swiftness, like a shadow. He paused on top of a skyscraper for a glimpse at the cold, concrete world below that was Jump City. From up high on his vantage point, he could see a large T-shaped building in the distance, against the dark night sky. He closed his eyes, sensing the others prescence and he smiled. It had been a long time…but here she was once more, as he always knew she would be. Theirs was a path that had been destined to cross time and time again.

He threw himself into the night once more, in the direction of that building. Something told him that was where he was to wait. Something told him that was where they would meet again. Something…

He sensed that strange sentient power, whatever it was, on the wind and in his soul. Oh, how he sensed it…

The feeling of something powerful.

The presence of something dark.

**X**

"Um…Eeeeewwww-kayyy…Is it just me, or is this scene messed up?" Cyborg had remarked.

The Titans had rushed to a high-security facility with news that someone had broken in and stolen a quantity of an as-yet-unidentified substance. Based on the facts of entry, when they had arrived they had suspected to find the H.I.V.E. kids, in the midst of their escape and ready to put up a fight.

What they hadn't expected to find was a bewildered Gizmo and an unconscious Mammoth. When he had first spotted the Titans, Gizmo had tried to activate his backpack, but Robin had hurled a flash disc at the diminutive techno-whiz and stunned him. While Gizmo was still disoriented, Cyborg swiftly strode over and picked him up by the back of the collar. Shaking him roughly, Cyborg demanded, "OK, small fry, now what were you after?" Gizmo sneered, while trying to free himself. "Do you really think I'd tell you, metal-head!" Robin just shook his head, and swept over to Raven. "Any idea what they were after?" he asked her. Raven's head moved side to side under her cowl. "All the guards were knocked unconscious before they could get a clear view of their attackers. Anyway, all they're telling us is that it's a highly unstable chemical and that they haven't been able to fully harness its power." Robin nodded his assent, and then turned his attention back to their adversaries. Mammoth was still unconscious, though he was beginning to stir and would probably soon wake up. Gizmo was still struggling furiously in Cyborg's grip, unable to get himself free. And Jinx was…nowhere to be found. In the initial analysis of the scene, Robin had overlooked that the H.I.V.E. kids' team leader had been absent.

Robin whipped out a Birdarang, and looked around alertly, as though she was about to attack before they could do anything. But no pink hexes hurled themselves out of the darkness. Nothing collapsed or was destroyed by something more than coincidence. Everything was silent.

That made Robin grip his Birdarang even tighter as he glared even more warily around. Finally, he seemed to decide that Jinx wasn't planning an ambush and that she really wasn't hiding anywhere. But then why had the H.I.V.E. sent Gizmo and Mammoth without Jinx? Subtlety wasn't exactly their strong point. Robin walked over to Gizmo, who stopped trying to get free and turned to glare on Robin. "We've called the police," Cyborg said. "They'll be here in a minute." Robin nodded to acknowledge that he had heard, then locked Gizmo's gaze with one that matched it. "Where's Jinx?" Robin asked him. He could tell from Cyborg's confused blink that he had not been the only one to overlook her missing presence. Gizmo, however, just sneered at him. "Wouldn't you'd like to know, Bird-Brain!" Robin gritted his teeth and was on the verge of asking again, maybe with a little 'persuasion', when the unsteady voice answered from behind him: "She's gone…"

Robin turned around. Mammoth had regained consciousness and had drawn himself up into a sitting position. Robin lifted his Birdarang warningly, but he believed that Mammoth wasn't in any mood to fight him. There was something in his slumped shoulders and unfocused eyes that told him that. "She's gone," he repeated in that same dejected voice. Robin lowered the Birdarang and advanced towards him. "Gone where?" he asked. Mammoth shook his head slowly, wincing slightly as he did so. "I…I don't know…" he said finally, then added, "The masked guy took her away…" Robin moved closer still. "What do mean? What 'masked guy'?" he asked. Mammoth lifted his head, gritting his teeth as though it pained him, and then replied, "The guy who got here before us. The guy who stole the xenothium. The guy with the skull mask. He thought he had knocked me out, but I was still partially conscious, and saw everything. He tried to get away, Jinx grabbed his arm and…and…they just…vanished. Into thin air. And then I blacked out…" His story finished, Mammoth lowered his head and fell silent.

Robin was aware that his team mates had heard every word of Mammoth's tale, but he didn't seem to care. He was sure they all had the same suspicion that he did, but they didn't voice it, as though he was the only one with any right to. He stared out into the blackness, all the pieces locking into place in his mind, unaware that his alter ego was only now taking the injured Jinx to his hideaway, and spoke the name to the unhearing darkness.

"Red X…"

**X**

By the time the Titans returned to the Tower, the night was growing late. Robin had said that, although catching Red X was their main priority, by now he would be long gone. He had said they should try to find him in the morning. Unbeknownst to many people, maybe even X himself, xenothium left a chemical trail wherever it was triggered, a trail that could be seen on the ground and in the air, with the proper equipment. Robin said the trail could remain for hours – a whole day if they were lucky – and that when they woke up in the morning they could start looking for X's, much to Beast Boy's relief. He wasn't a fan of late nights. As soon as they had returned to the Tower, and Robin had explained what was to happen in the morning, they had said goodnight and gone to their rooms.

Raven closed her door. After putting away her cowled cloak, she moved over to her bed, kicked off her shoes, pulled back the sheets and lay down on the soft mattress, thinking about Red X. Where was he now? What was he doing? Had he escaped Jinx, defeated her, or had she persuaded him to form an alliance with the H.A.E.Y.P. that would finally destroy them?

She rolled onto her side. No. Red X was not the kind of person to flee before giving his opponent a thorough thrashing. And he was a loner by nature. She doubted that even someone as cunning as Jinx would have been able to convince him to join the H.I.V.E. Academy. X would not lie down and take orders from someone like Brother Blood. So that left the other option: that Jinx and X must have faced off against one another… Raven yawned. She would have liked to think more about it, but she felt too tired. She pulled up the sheets and lay back against her soft pillow. She would think about it more in the morning. She closed her eyes…and that's when the voice spoke to her. A voice that bespoke of darkness and death, a voice she had prayed that she would never have to hear again. A voice that was all too familiar.

"Hello, Raven…"

She sat bolt upright in her bed, and looked wildly around, her gaze finally locking with the eyes of the horrible apparition standing in the corner of her room.

He was tall, taller than Robin, wearing a cloak so black that the darkness around him seemed grey. From the tattered hem of the cloak itself trailed tiny ribbons of smoke, gently coiling into the air like serpents. Beneath the hood, the only things visible were the two eyes, blood red, that seemed to burn into Raven's soul. For a moment that could have been minutes, each contemplated the other, he noticing how much Raven had changed, she noticing how he had not changed at all. Then he was slowly moving towards her. He seemed to glide over the ground rather than walk, leaving a trail of smoke wisping in his wake. By the time he was next to her bed, she had thrown off her sheets and got to her feet. She gazed into those fathomless, inhuman eyes as she addressed the figurestanding before her.

"Dario Darque…" she whispered quietly. "Was Hell hot enough for you?" The shadow creature responded with a harsh laugh, and made a sardonic bow at the waist.

"Hardly," he rasped. There was something terrifying about that voice. It grated. It shrieked. It snarled. And it growled. "Why waste time being dead and buried when there is so much to do? So many sights waiting to be seen…so many things waiting to be discovered…so much darkness waiting to be unleashed? " Even as he spoke he sat down on the end of her bed and continued to stare at her, his eyes looking at her as though he was taking in more than just the sight of her. As though he was _absorbing _her…

Without knowing that she was doing it, she sat down on the bed next to him. There was a long, awkward – but not cold – silence.

Finally, the creature decided to break it. Shaking its head in a pitying way, it said, "Raven, Raven, Raven…just look at you. My little Dark Girl is all grown up…" A hand like a cruelly clawed talon emerged from his ragged sleeve and gently brushed her cheek with the backs of its twisted fingers. She slapped it away. The creature laughed. "Still as strong-willed as ever, I see," it said. "But, on the other hand, so am I…"

"Why did you come here, Darque?" she said, her voice full of suppressed anger. The shadowy being got to its feet – for lack of a better word; there was nothing past his legs except black cloth and swirling smoke – and when it spoke, its voice became human.

"The Dark Lord shall come to this plane of existence in five days time," he said. His voice had become deep and poetic. "On the night of the fifth day, the moon shall shine crimson and he shall be free to do with this city – indeed, this world – as he sees fit. And he will come for you, Raven…" He turned to look at Raven, his tattered, fuming robes becoming whole and ceasing to smoke. He reached up with one hand – yes, now it was just a hand – and pulled down his hood, revealing his face to her. Raven gasped in spite of herself.

The young boy she had left on Azarath when she fled from her father had become a young man. He was extremely handsome, with pale skin like her own. The short, untidy black hair he'd had as a boy had grown long and framed his features with natural elegance. Even so, his solemn thoughtful face had remained the same as ever. That and his eyes. Dario was the only one Raven had ever seen who had no colour to the irises of his eyes. In the centre of the whites, they were pure black, like two never-ending vortexes of darkness, the kind that let light in but not back out…

She only just realised how long she had been staring into them, when she snapped out of it. "So why are you telling me this?" she asked. He looked at her with an expression that was hard to define. Was it sadness?

"To give you a fair chance," he said finally. He rolled the sleeve of his cloak up to reveal his right forearm. In that one instant, Raven didn't know what to do. She thought she would scream, cry or maybe she would just drop dead of shock and that would be the end of it. However, none of those things happened and, as much as she didn't want to, she saw what was branded on his arm.

It was her father's emblem, the Mark of Scathe.

There was enough of her old feelings for him to make her eyes well up with tears. He had paid the ultimate price. He was now her father's creature, body and soul. He saw the look on her face and his own expression changed to one of sorrow.

"Why?" In her shock, that was the only thing Raven could whisper as the tears ran down her cheeks. "Why, Dario?"

"For my loyal service, the Dark Lord…rewarded me" Dario said, although he pulled up his sleeve hastily, hiding the symbol as one would hide some hideous scar. "He has marked me as his general. When he arrives in five days time, he will expect to see this entire planet decimated. I must destroy this world, and every living creature in it…" He looked at her again, sorrow scarring his features. "You have five days to stop me…"

When Dario finished speaking, Raven got up off her bed and backed away from him. The tears were still shining on her cheeks, but when she spoke her voice was normal again.

"What has happened to you?" she asked, searching his face. "Why are you doing this? Is this because of-" Her voice caught in her throat, and she couldn't bring her self to speak any more. She couldn't say anything about what had happened in the past: the hurt, the betrayal, and the lies…

"The past is the past," Dario replied simply, as if he had read her mind. "We cannot change the past, no matter how much we dislike it…" He walked over to where Raven stood, raised one of his hands and gently caressed her cheek, brushing away the lingering tears. This time she didn't slap it away. They just sat there, the two dark teens that hadn't seen each other for years, that strange bond they had once shared severed for so long.

That made the thing that happened next even more unexpected.

A massive jolt hit Raven in the chest, as though she had just been hit by a painless surge of electricity. She tried to move away from Dario, but felt her legs unhinge beneath her, spilling her to the floor. The surge continued, steadily spreading throughout her entire body. Then it was gone, as suddenly as it had came. Raven, all her energy drained by that strange experience, lay shivering on the floor. She was tired now, so tired she could barely keep her eyes open…

Strong arms lifted her gently, enfolding her in their dark embrace, as Dario picked her up, glided across the room and softly laid her down on her bed. He pulled the sheets up over her, and ran his fingers through her hair.

"There, there, Dark Girl," he soothed, his voice whispering in her ear. "Nothing to worry about, just a little gift from me, that's all. Now, go to sleep and dream whatever you want to…" His voice lulling her, Raven obeyed and fell asleep…

He didn't know how long he sat there, stroking her hair, gazing upon her beautiful face. All he knew was that, when he looked out the window at the sky, the first rays of light were just peeking over the horizon. Standing up, he took a small envelope out of his cloak and placed it in Raven's hand. Still sleeping, her fingers curled around it. He then crossed the room and stood in front of the window, letting the dim rays of dawn light wash over him. When he turned around to look at Raven one last time, Dario Darque was gone. Instead, the shadow creature from before stood there, staring at her with its crimson eyes, smoke coiling around it.

"Goodbye, Raven, and good luck…" it whispered, its voice a feral growl, low with emotion. Then it threw itself into the early dawn sky, and disappeared without a trace.

As though it had never existed…

Darklord X:

And so we are introduced to the dark shadow that haunts Raven's past! The next chapter is going to have a bit more humour in it! When Raven reveals about her late-night visitor to her friends, they are highly suspicious, but even more so when they find the strange invitation he left them. Meanwhile, Red X and Jinx also receive a similar invitation to the mysterious party, which X intends to crash! Is this just a confusing ruse to throw the Titans off their game? Or has Dario Darque already begun the first phase of his nefarious scheme? Find out in "Chapter III: Only On All Hallows Eve!"


	3. Chapter III: Only On All Hallows Eve!

Darklord X:

The Darklord returneth! Thanx for all the comments, and sorry I haven't posted for so long. This chapter is gonna be long, so I decided to split it into two parts (don't ask me…although I am the one writing this thing… ). First part of the third chapter of "Honour Among Thieves" cominatcha, wherein we're introduced to a new villain…and an old foe, too!

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans (I do, however, own Dario Darque and Vincent!)

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Go on! Guess what he is! I darest ya! Guess!

**Chapter III / 1 of 2: Only On All Hallows Eve!**

"Vincent."

Dario Darque spoke the name aloud to the gloom in front of him. It did not matter where he was, in this world or in any other, for an answer would always come…

"Yes, master Darque?"

In the darkness had condensed the form of a teenage boy, his cloak seemed to spread out across the ground like oil as he kneeled before Dario on one knee.

"My old friend," Dario said, a sly smile forming upon his lips, "we shall be needing help. Fetch me the other. Don't be afraid to use your…persuasive abilities if need be." The other young man nodded. Dario outstretched his clenched fist and Vincent opened his own to receive what was concealed within.

"What is this?" he asked.

"It is a present," Dario said simply. "An offering for her to join us. Apparently, she is quick to anger. This gift will sweeten her temper and, if we are lucky, persuade her to join us. Regardless, there is no time to dwell on this. There is still much to prepare. Find her and bring her to me."

Vincent stood up, straight and tall, and bowed. "I shall not fail you, master Darque." Dario placed a hand upon his shoulder. "I know you won't, my old friend."

And with that, Vincent melted away into the shadows and was gone.

**X**

_The landscape was barren, dotted all over with deep chasms and huge mountains. There was not a single thing growing in the rocky soil, and there was no sign of life anywhere._

_No sign of life except for the girl. She sat with huddled her arms wrapped around her legs as she stared out at the bleak scenery. Her clothes and appearance showed that she had been wandering long: the material of her top and skirt were ragged and frayed and the metallic underlay of her costume was scratched and dull. Her dark hair was unkempt and hung about her face. However, all of these things didn't hide the arrogant angle of her head, the fierce look in her eyes and her identity._

Banished. Why? How? I had it all. How could she have beaten me? _she thought furiously. _How **could **she have beaten me?! I'm stronger, I'm smarter, I'm prettier…and I was born first! s_he finished with a certain childish anger. _How **could **they have preferred Starfire? How **dare **they prefer Starfire? _All alone on a dead planet, these thoughts coursing like poison through her mind, nothing could have prepared her for what she heard next. A voice spoke to her._

_ **Who cares what others think? **The voice was sympathetic, but it held another emotion in its tone as well. Was it…eagerness?_

_Blackfire leapt to her feet, violet energy crackling around her hands, and said "Who's there?" The voice laughed gently, pleasantly, and Blackfire felt a sudden, unexplainable urge to lower her fists. ** Relax **the strange voice soothed. ** I have no wish to engage you in battle. I only want to talk. Look behind you… **Slowly, Blackfire turned around._

_A strange boy stood behind her, about a metre away. He was as tall as she was, wearing a voluminous black cape which was fastened at his throat with a gold clasp in the shape of a strange winged Earth mammal she had once seen. His strange clothes hinted at nobility, and there was a look of emaciation about him. Despite his thinness, he was not ill-favoured: his high cheekbones contrasted well with the paleness of his skin, his crimson eyes held a look of devilish cunning, and he wore a satisfied, thin-lipped smile on his sly, handsome face. His hair was as white as snow._

_Before Blackfire could respond, he spoke; his voice was the voice that she had just heard in her head…_

"_Allow me to introduce myself," he said. "My name is Vincent Cronquist." With a flourish, he made a deep bow at the waist, his cape flowing with his own motion. "And who might I have the honour of addressing?" His question brought Blackfire back to her senses. The energy vanished from around her hands, and she turned away from him. "Who I am is none of your business," she said coldly. "Just leave me alone…" Silence. Blackfire glanced behind her. The boy had disappeared. Completely uncaring of who he was or what he wanted, she turned back the other way…_

…_and flinched back when she saw Vincent there, blocking her path._

"_I know who you are. You are Komand'r," he said. "Also known as Blackfire, the sister of Starfire, and Grand Ruler,"-he broke off and gave a nasty laugh-"or should I say ex-Grand Ruler of the planet Tameran."_

_Blackfire raised her fists again, her eyes glowing violet at the mention of what he said, but she demanded nonetheless, "How do you know that?"_

_Vincent smiled. It was an icy smile, the smile a snake might make just before striking. "I know more than just that," he whispered. "I know everything about you. About how much you hated your sister ever since you two were children, about how you tried to frame her with the Centauri Moon Diamond, about how you arranged her marriage to that horrible fellow Glgrdsklechhh in exchange for the Jewel of Charta…and even _more_ than that, my dear."_

_At this, Blackfire crossed her arms in front of her and smirked. "I'm flattered that you know so much about me," she said, a slight sneer twisting her lips. "But I don't have time for any admirers, or whatever else you may be. So get out of my way, and I might just let you leave unharmed…"_

_That strange smile never left Vincent's face. "Ah," he said slyly "but I know much more than just your past. I know what you want, and what I can give you…"_

_Blackfire raised an eyebrow. "And exactly what is it that I want?" she asked curiously._

"_You want power," he said simply. "You want riches. And you want to use both of them to, using your vernacular, 'have fun'. That, and you want to pay back your **dear** little sister…" Blackfire nodded, ignoring the anger building up inside her chest at the mention of her sibling. It seemed that this boy – creature, or whatever he was – could sense her innermost thoughts and feelings. But what was he **doing **here? This entire planet was deserted: a dead planet in every sense of the word, floating in a place that all of creation had forgotten. There was **nothing **here in this place…_

_Except her._

"_And why do you care about what I want?" she asked, playing along, although she already suspected his motives. Almost as though he could read her mind, he nodded. "I care about what you want because I am willing to give it to you," he said. "If you join us, you can have whatever your heart desires. Power, riches, revenge…anything you want, it is yours…" He bowed._

_Blackfire took his offer into consideration, and found that it appealed to her greatly. He had not been lying when he had told her what she wanted. All the things he had said had been **exactly **what she wanted. And yet…_

"_You said 'us'?" she asked. He nodded. "Are there more like you?" At that, he shook his head. "No," he replied. "The one that I serve is more powerful than anyone could ever imagine. He is Darkness incarnate and holds the power of Life and Death in his own two hands. I am merely his lieutenant. They call him the Shadow Phantom…"_

"_The Shadow Phantom…" Blackfire said. "He sounds like quite an extraordinary person. But how do I know that your master is as powerful as you say he is? I would like to see some proof." As thoroughly impressed as she was with Vincent's offer, she would need some convincing before she formed an alliance of any sort._

"_But of course," Vincent said, that sly smile creeping back across his face. "He thought that you might, and so he created a little present especially for you…" Reaching underneath the folds of his cape, he removed something from his trouser pocket and held it in front of him in a closed fist. Slowly uncurling his fingers, the object lay upon his pale palm, finally revealing what it was. Blackfire couldn't believe it._

_It was the Jewel of Charta. Only it couldn't be: the Jewel had been shattered in her last fight with her sister. This had to be some sort of trick._

"_Oh, I know what you're thinking," Vincent said, his voice cutting cleanly into her thoughts. "Of course it isn't the Jewel of Charta. But it retains all of the same power. My master crafted it in the image of the original jewel." Realising that the gem wasn't red at all, but pure black, Blackfire reached out and took it from Vincent, feeling its cool weight in her own hand._

_At that moment, she felt the energy course through her, a surging current of invigorating and undeniable power which manifested in her eyes and pooled into her hands. She spied a mountain in the distance and raised her left arm, aiming directly at it. Black energy erupted from her hand and roared towards the mountain, striking it directly in the centre. There was an explosion of rock, smoke and sound._

_When the dust had settled, there was nothing left but rubble. Satisfied, Blackfire let go of her power and felt it leave her hands and eyes. She fastened the new jewel below her throat, in the exact same place she had kept the original Jewel of Charta. She had made up her mind now, without question. Surely one who could create something like this was powerful indeed. She turned her attention back to Vincent. He was smiling._

"_So," he said. "After seeing my gift and a demonstration of my master's power, will you join us?" He extended his hand, but Blackfire did not take it. She still had one more question to ask…_

"_One last thing, before I make up my mind," she said. "On which planet are you and your master?" Vincent's smile widened and his eyes gleamed as he spoke a single word._

"_Earth." Blackfire nodded._

"_I thought as much," she said. "Very well. I accept your offer, Vincent Cronquist." She placed her delicate hand in his. He bowed low and kissed it._

_Blackfire looked out at the shimmering stars in space and her eyes glowed. _Look out, sister dear, _she thought, evilly. _Here I come…


End file.
